Evan James, The Boy
by BrieW
Summary: In a freak accident, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter found himself splashed with a mysterious potion that turned him back into a four-year-old with no memories of the Wizarding World and no know antidote. Luckily for little Harry Potter, though, he has two godfather's to raise him. (Note: Name change to Evan James part of plot point.)


**Disclaimer: The characters and language belong to the inspirational J.K. Rowling.**

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In the backyard of an average Little Whinging house, an extraordinary pre-teen was carefully climbing down from a tree. It would have surprised the inhabitants of Privet Drive to hear that the largely ignored, skinny boy from 4 Privet Drive had saved a their world and a Wizarding World several times-once as a baby and twice in the last three years. His neighbors, however, had only heard terrible things about him from his aunt and uncle, and warned their own children away from becoming friendly when he came back from school every summer. Which was just one of the reasons why Harry James Potter hated summertime.

Three other reasons had finally left the house after yelling for him indoors for an hour. Harry had seen his Uncle, Vernon Dursley, turning red as the clock ticked closer to the time his family needed to leave by in order to make a business dinner. Aunt Petunia's face had caught and ugly shade of pink as well, but collected herself and her husband before he could storm outside and make a scene in front of spying neighbors. They, along with their obese son, Dudley, locked the windows and doors before driving away. _A pity for them they didn't lock the window to my room,_ Harry thought once he'd reached the bottom of the lone tree.

For some absurd reason, they hadn't bothered to look for Harry in their own backyard, which made it the safest place to be if he wanted to avoid their long list of household summer chores. After the first time the Dursley's had locked him out of the house to go out for dinner, he'd learned to keep his window open and pick the lock to the backyard shed which contained the ladder Uncle Vernon had bought two years ago to place fitted bars on Harry's bedroom window. Harry had spent more time hiding from his family this summer than any before because, quiet honestly, they made him sad.

For a very brief moment at the end of Harry's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry there had been a shiny chance that he would never have to live with his aunt and uncle ever again. In the past school year he had learned that he had a godfather, Sirius Black, who hadn't betrayed his parents and committed mass murders (like everyone believed) and had escaped from Azkaban (a terrifying and impenetrable prison for wizards) with the only goal of protecting Harry from the real threat: Ron's pet rat. Only Scabbers, the pet rat of Harry's best friend, wasn't really a rat but the wizard who had really betrayed Harry's parents to Lord Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew. It had been a crazy year, but just as everything was perfect Professor Lupin (another friend of Harry's parents and the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor) turned into a werewolf and Pettigrew escaped, so there was no proof that Harry's godfather was innocent.

Despite how Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Hogwart's Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, and the resigning Professor Lupin had tried to cheer him up, they couldn't truly understand how he felt now that his hope to leave the Dursley household forever had been crushed. Although Harry had enjoyed the terrified looks his family had when he talked about Sirius, after the first week his cousin, surprisingly, had asked the optimal hit question: "If you have a godfather that's so great and powerful, why don't you live with him?"

_Because everyone thinks he's a mass murderer and he'll get caught if I'm around. Because I let the real murderer get away, again. Because I didn't want to see Pettigrew killed in front of me._ Harry couldn't stand being around his family without thinking about how things could have been better had Pettigrew had not gotten away. _Right now, I'd be asking Sirius about how Dad and the Marauder's Map. I wouldn't be picking a backyard shed to get to a ladder to climb to a second story window just for a half-hour in the air-conditioning._

"I take it, Mr. Potter, that you have a good reason for picking that particular lock?" Harry turned sharply away from the shed at the calm, inquiring voice of Professor Dumbledore.

"Sir!" The shock Harry was experiencing at seeing the Headmaster of Hogwarts made him momentarily forget they were in the muggle.

"Hello, Harry."

"What-what are you doing here? I mean, Hello, but is something wrong?" A pit of ice grew in Harry stomach, it wasn't after all normal for Professor Dumbledore to just stop by. "Is Sirius alright? No one's caught him, right?" _It'll be my fault. They can't catch him. They just can't have._

"No. No, Harry, Sirius is quite alright." Harry thought he saw Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkle, but the ice in his stomach didn't leave.

"What about Professor Lupin? Is he alright?" _He got sacked because Snape let it out that he was a werewolf. What if he can't find a job?_

"Everyone is quiet safe, Remus included."

"Oh. Well, good." The ice was gone, but more confusion took place. "Um, are you okay?" Dumbledore chuckled heartedly at Harry's question and accepted the apprehension everyone felt when he came to call; it was a shame but people typically assumed that Dumbledore came to visit only when bad news was had.

"Yes, Harry, I am fine. I came, to answer your question, because I suspect that you wished you had more time with your godfather." The hope that shined in Harry's eyes caused a small twinge in Dumbledore's gut. There was a strong possibility that what he was about to offer the young man might not be in the world's best interest, but... "Harry, how would you like to spend a week with Sirius and Remus?"

Harry stared dumbfounded at the headmaster for a second. _He couldn't mean...I would get to live with..._

The twinge in Dumbledore's gut increased. "I know you were very happy to see your godfather and to learn that there were people who knew your parents very well. And I'm sorry we could not prove Sirius's innocents or convince Remus to stay at his post. After the school year ended, I managed to track down Remus who is probably the only person who can find Sirius and offer them one safe week where the three of you can get to know each other. It's little payment for the suffering Remus and Sirius have gone through these past thirteen years, but it is all I can give them. As I understand it, the Weasley family has invited you to join them at the Quidditch World Cup at the end of this month; it will a good match. So, I propose that all three of you can stay in a safe house for one week in three days from now. Does that seem fair?"

_I'm dreaming. I've fallen asleep in that tree and I'll probably fall down and break something, but I don't want to wake up._

"Harry, this isn't a dream. In three days time, I can comeback and grab your things and take you to see Remus and Sirius for one week."

"I-Yes. Yes, I'd love to stay with them."

"For one week. I can't give you more than that."

"Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you."

"Your quiet welcome. Now, Harry, may I ask: Why are you picking that lock?"

"Oh!" Harry nervously ruffled the back of his hair and looked guiltily at the shed. "I-uh, I kind of got locked out of the house. So I was going to get a ladder from the shed."

"I see. Are your aunt and uncle not here then?"

"No, they and Dudley went to a business dinner. They just left maybe twenty minutes ago."

"They left you here alone then?"

"Yah, but I'm used to it. Prefer it, actually. So, what time are we leaving?"

"Let's say around noon?"

"Excellent. Thank you, again, sir."

"It is my pleasure, Mr. Potter. Also, I think you will find that the backdoor is miraculously open. Be sure not to lose your key next time."

"Yes, sir."


End file.
